Shoe



N. 9, 1934. l J. H EVERSTON 1,976,389

SHOE

` Filed July 28, 1935 mvENToR BY M AM, AM v .Z ATTORNEYS Patented oa. e, i934 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE SHOE `oseph H. Everston, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application `luly 28, 1933, Serial No. 682,563

3 Claims. (Ci. Sii-i7) This invention relates to improvements in shoes.

It is the primary object of the invention to provide a novel and Vimproved form of cushioned shoe in which more adequate cushioning is given the weight bearing portions of the foot, and the inner sole at such portions having increased flexibility without any sharp line of demarcation such as exists between the cushioned and uncushioned insole portions of some prior art shoes.

MJ In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view .partially in side elevation and partially in central longitudinal section in the plane indicated at 1-1 in Fig. 2, oi a shoe embodying the invention.

35 Figure 2 is a plan view of the interior of the shoe, the upper being shown in section and a portion of the insole being broken away to expose the cushioning and filling material therebeneath.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary detail view similar to 2@ the rear portion of Figure 1 showing a slightly modiiied heel seat construction.

Figure 4 is a view in transverse section in the plane indicated at 4-4 in Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section in the plane indicated at 5-5 in Figure 4.

Like parts areidentied by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

'I'hose skilled in the art will readily identify in the drawing the upper 1, the outsole 2, the

insole 3, counter 4, heel 5, and the welt 6 to which the upper is joined by the insole seam at '7.

As is usual in the construction of welt shoes, the space between the insole and the outsole and within the insole seam 7 is provided with filler.

In accordance with the present invention the areas 8 and 9 are provided with the usual filler of ground cork or other relatively unelastic composition. These areas are spaced apart to receive a more elastic filler under the ball of the foot, and the margins of these areas are preferably demarcated by lines which have apices at 10 and 11. Between such lines is a mass 12 of highly elastic filling material such as sponge rubber, porous rubber, or other similarly soft and yieldable cushioning substance.

Those portions of the cushion 12 directly beneath the load bearing bones in the ball of the foot, are preferably outlined by apertures 13 in the insole arranged in arcuate series to delineate insole portions which are movable with relative freedom respecting the rest of the insole. If the cushioned areas were. entirely distinct from the uncushioned areas the line of demarcation would be sosharp as to be uncomfortable to the foot.

l By providing the apertures delineating distinct areas as shown, I render the insole portions above these areas more freely yieldable than would otherwi'se be the case, but the connection of such portions with the remainder ofthe insole prevents the formation of any ridge at the boundaries of the cushioned areas. The apertures also promote air circulation to ventilate the shoe when 1n use.

To further promote the flexibility of the cushioned forward portions of the insole, these portions are preferably skived from below, as shown in Fig. 4, to provide dome-shaped enlargements of the space available for a cushion, which lls such enlargements as shown at 14 in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5.

At the rear of the insole, over the heel seat, the insole is preferably split horizontally to provide a flap 15. As an alternative, a heel pad 150 may be used, separate from the insole, as shown in Fig.

3. Beneath the pad, whether integral with the insole or not, is a hole extending completely through the insole, as shown at 16. The portions of the insole marginally adjacent the hole are skived away to provide tapered margins 17 whereby the elasticity of the margin 18 is reduced very 0 gradually from the area lling the hole 16 through the remote portions of the heel. The cushionis continuous from its central portion of major thickness to boundaries of the entire heel portion of the shoe. As clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, 85 the cushion overlies the nails 19 and 20 employed to connect the counter to the insole and to connect the rubber heel thereto. Thus, the cushion serves not merely to absorb the shock of walking, but also to protect the wearers foot from the clinched ends of the nails.

As in the forward portions of the shoe, the highly cushioned area which supports the heel bone is preferably demarcated by a row of holes at 21 which render the portion 210 'of the insole 95 more freely ilexible and yieldable than other insole areas not so delineated by holes.

The tapering form of the cushions from the point of maximum thickness toward the points of lesser thickness, together with the holes delineating the insole areas immediately above the cushion portions of maximum thickness, ensure to the operator an unusual cushioning effect without the shoulders or ridges which boundv the cushions of some shoes. In the present shoe the rubber cushioning material at 12 and 18 is substantially limited to the portions of the shoe in which it is needed for the actual support of the wearers load. This is an advantage because its distribution throughout the interior of the shoe tends to cause u excessive foot perspiration. Where the cushion ller is used, the holes above it not only make the cushion more effective elastically, but also induce an air circulation which tends to ventilato the adjacent portions of the foot.

I claim:

1. In a shoe, the combination with an insole and an outsole, of relatively inelastic llers in the shank and toe portions of the shoe between the insole and outsole, said llers terminating adjacent the ball portion of the shoe upon longitudinally spaced lines extending transversely of said shoe and arcuately curving to rearwardly di rected apices, the space within the inseam ridge and between the insole and outsole between said lines having a relatively highly elastic cushion ller.

2. In a shoe, the combination with an insole having an aperture in its heel portion, of an outsole, a anged counter and a heel, connecting means extending through said heel, outsole counterange and insole, and a cushion covering the counterilange, the connecting means and the portion of the insole about the aperture and extending through the aperture, whereby to provide an elastic support for the entire heel of the wearer with increased elasticity directly beneath the heel bone, together with ilap means covering said cushion.

3. In a welt shoe having an outsole, an insole, and an inseam ridge, the combination with said soles and ridge, of cushion means at the ball portions oi' the soles and between the inseam ridge at the sides thereof, said cushion means having portions ot materially increased thickness at opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the soles and beneath the load bearing bones of the wearers foot, one of said soles being cut away to receive those portions of the cushion means which are increased as to thickness.

JOSEPH H. EVERsToN. 

